Toy World brings you a convenient round-up of the top stories from last week. 

There have been a number of industry moves recently; Universal Brand Development announced the appointment of Paul Bufton as vice president of consumer products for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, while David Wootliff, formerly of Pyramid International, has joined Sambro as marketing director. Sue Barratt has also made a move, joining IMC Toys as country manager for the UK market.

The flip-cover October issue of Toy World started landing on desks early last week, allowing plenty of time for visitors to Brand Licensing Europe, which kicks off today at London Excel, to browse our comprehensive show preview and bumper licensing section. To read the issue online, click here. Published alongside it was the dedicated Mattel licensing supplement for 2019, which you can read here.

In retail, Sainsbury’s announced plans to close more than 100 stores across its portfolio following disappointing Q2 results for Argos. The closures will be across its main supermarket and convenience brands, with as many as 70 standalone Argos stores shutting and moving to a nearby Sainsbury’s.

Hamleys announced its list of top 10 toys for Christmas at its recent Christmas Showcase, with toys from Learning Resources, Hasbro, Fisher-Price, Mattel, Moose Toys, MGA and Lego all making the cut.

Recognising the need for further gender inclusivity in play, Mattel released its new doll range Creatable World, working alongside a dedicated team of experts, parents, physicians and kids, to create this one-of-a-kind play experience.

Finally, last week’s Baulch Blog took a look at the importance of differing views and opinions in the toy market, with a focus on e-tail giants and so-called ‘McTat’. Toy World publisher John Baulch will be chairing a panel discussion, How Can Toy Licensing Recover its Sparkle?, at BLE today (12.30pm in the License Global Theatre); if you have views to share, please do go along.